Google has wrapped its tentacles around yet another aspect of digital life, announcing plans earlier this year to buy smart-phone giant Motorola Mobility. The 13-year-old search-engine company has a history of staying ahead through smart acquisitions. Here are its five largest:
Google is celebrating its 13th birthday Tuesday with a cake-themed Google Doodle. Click on the image, and Google will reveal something truly extraordinary: Google's search results for the word "Google."
Until now, it was widely assumed that Googling "Google" would cause Google's servers to get bogged down in a vicious circle that would rapidly cascade through the entire Internet, creating a recursion paradox that would ultimately cause data centers around the world to spectacularly explode. But apparently that doesn't actually happen. Instead, those who Google "Google" will simply get the search results for "Google," just as they would had they Googled any other word or phrase. This would have been rather useful information for technology journalists, especially those on deadline trying to search for information about the company using phrases like "a certain search giant," "you-know-what," and "that thing you really shouldn't type in this box lest you destroy the entire Internet."
The number of gay and bisexual characters on scripted broadcast network TV has dipped slightly this season to 19 out of nearly 650 roles, according to the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
The 16th annual "Where We Are on TV" report released by GLAAD found that 2.9 percent of actors appearing regularly on prime-time network drama and comedy series in the 2011-12 season will portray gay, lesbian or bisexual characters. That's down from 3 percent in the 2009-10 season and 3.9 percent last season, when there were 23 out of a total of nearly 600 roles. Among broadcast series with gay and bisexual characters, GLAAD cited CBS' "The Good Wife," the CW's "Ringer" and NBC's "The Playboy Club." Comedies include ABC's "Modern Family" and Fox's "Glee." Fox leads the networks in gay representation, with eight regular characters out of a total of 117. The number of gay and bisexual characters on cable networks has also fallen slightly, from 35 last season to 29 in the upcoming season.
Google, Comcast, and Intel are among companies considering a project to bring faster broadband Internet access to more than 30 college towns in a push to spur Web traffic and nourish technology startups.
They're being courted by computing nonprofit Gig.U to finance ultra high-speed networks capable of transmitting movies, games and other data-intensive content at speeds 100 times faster than many services currently available. The Gig.U project wants to bring the service to more than a million Americans living near 37 campuses, such as California Institute of Technology, University of Illinois and Duke University. Blair Levin, executive director of Gig.U, presented the idea to Google and more than 50 other companies at a meeting in Chicago, aimed at removing the biggest roadblock to a nationwide upgrade: a multibillion-dollar price tag. “The obstacle is cost,” said Craig Moffett, an analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. “There's simply no conceivable way to earn a return on that kind of investment, particularly given that the cable industry is already out there with infrastructure.”
Google asked the U.S. judge overseeing the government’s lawsuit seeking to stop AT&T from buying T-Mobile USA for a chance to contest the disclosure of its confidential data in the case.
Google, which provided the information to the Justice Department in its investigation of the proposed T-Mobile deal, made its request in federal court in Washington. Google, describing the data as “competitively sensitive” and related to internal products and launch plans, urged U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle to have the parties give the company advance notice of possible disclosures in court or to experts. “Without such additional protection, Google and other non-parties could find their confidential information -- such as Google’s business plans related to Android -- in the hands of competitors (or their competitors’ consultants), or even in newspapers, without having had prior notice of its disclosure,” Google said its request to intervene in the lawsuit.
President Barack Obama will nominate CenturyLink CEO Glen Post III to be a member of the President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee.
Post began his career with CenturyLink in 1976 and has held a number of leadership positions over the years including Chairman of the Board, Chief Operating Officer, Executive Vice President, Senior Vice President, Treasurer, and Vice President. He holds a Bachelor’s degree and an M.B.A. from Louisiana Tech University.
The President’s National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC) mission is to provide the U.S. Government the best possible industry advice on the availability and reliability of telecommunication services.
Google shared some of the lessons it has learnt so far during the deployment of its FTTH (fibre-to-the-home) network, claiming that regulation has been one of the biggest hurdles it has had to overcome.
"Regulation can get in the way of innovation," said Kevin Lo, head of access at Google, during a keynote presentation at Broadband World Forum in Paris. "Regulations tied to physical infrastructure sometimes defer the investment altogether." He proceeded to run through some of the issues Google has had to deal with as it rolls out FTTH networks in Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri, including what he claimed were "unreasonable" fees and terms and conditions attached to rights of way, which are required before fibre can be put in the ground. Lo also complained that pole attachment agreements do not take broadband providers into account.
Apparently, House Communications Subcommittee Chairman Greg Walden (R-OR) plans to mark up a spectrum incentive auction bill Oct. 4 -- although there's no official announcement yet. A separate incentive auction bill backed by Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) has been incorporated into the President's jobs bill.
Internet activists accused governments of making it difficult for users of the Web, rights campaigners and private businesses to carry out their work through state attempts to seize control of the Web. They said state officials were getting bolder in their drive to regulate the Web that has fueled Arab revolutions, enabled mass leaks of U.S. diplomatic cables and allowed online piracy to thrive.
"What we have seen in the last three years is that no longer do governments shy away from attempting to regulate Internet content," said Joy Liddicoat, project coordinator at New Zealand-based Association for Progressive Communications, which seeks to protect people's rights on and to the Internet. They were speaking at the Internet Governance Forum in Nairobi, an annual event that brings together companies, non-profit groups, academics, engineers, government representatives and ordinary citizens. Participants at the meeting said governments were increasingly filtering and blocking content on the Web, carrying out surveillance and making requests for data and privacy information in countries like Egypt and Pakistan.
The National Telecommunications and Information Administration has sent an update on the Broadband Technology Opportunities Program to Congress. The report focuses on BTOP activities from April 1 to June 30, 2011. NTIA will provide its next quarterly report to Congress no later than mid-December 2011.
BTOP is on track to meet --and in most cases exceed -- its program goals, delivering significant progress this quarter in areas such as the infrastructure construction, computer center launches, and delivery of training to new broadband users. BTOP experienced considerable progress during this quarter in the form of a nearly 110 percent increase in the number of recipients delivering network miles from the previous quarter. Network miles deployed for BTOP include newly constructed miles, new leased miles, existing miles upgraded, and existing miles leased. Forty-four BTOP recipients deployed more than 10,000 network miles, bringing the total number of miles to date to more than 18,500. This represents a 200 percent increase in the number of network miles deployed over the last quarter. Over the first nine months of the fiscal year, BTOP has already surpassed its 2011 goal of 10,000 network miles.
As of June 30, 2011, 31 BTOP recipients reported that their training and adoption projects had encouraged more than 110,000 households and 500 businesses to subscribe to broadband services. This surpasses the goal of 100,000 new households or business subscribers for fiscal year 2011. New subscribers for this quarter totaled over 68,000, an increase of over 100 percent from the previous quarter.
BTOP recipients reported spending over $200 million of Federal grant funds this quarter, which was matched by recipient funds of almost $110 million. Cumulatively, total Federal expenditures were $480 million – approximately 12 percent of the total funds awarded – while total recipient matching contributions exceeded $240 million. The amount of Federal expenditures also increased by over 70 percent from the previous quarter’s totals, and the amount of matching funds contributed increased by over 80 percent.
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